Train service planned for Calif. music festivals

Train service planned for Calif. music festivals

INDIO, Calif.

Transportation officials are working on using Amtrak train service to help alleviate notorious traffic heading to and from the annual Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals in the Southern California desert.

The Riverside County Transportation Commission said it has received funding for an $8.6 million temporary train platform at the city of Indio Transit Center, and it could be ready for the 2020 festivals.

The funding includes $5.9 million awarded by the state and an additional $2.7 contributed by the county agency.

Concertgoers would board special trains at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, travel about 130 miles east to the Coachella Valley and then take shuttles to the concert grounds.

Exhibit explores mythology, reality of Mexican gray wolves

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

The Mexican gray wolf is the focus of a new exhibition at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico.

“Intertwined: The Mexican Wolf, the People and the Land” takes on the mythology and reality of the endangered predator through a collection of photographs and objects such as traps, books, skulls and pelts.

The exhibit runs through July.

Maxwell Museum co-curator Devorah Romanek told the Albuquerque Journal that the wolf’s situation is dire.

There were an estimated 114 wolves in the wild as of February 2018. Wildlife managers are working on an updated count.

Exhibit on US Latina ‘cholas’ set to open in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

A national Hispanic center in New Mexico is hosting a unique art exhibit on the “chola” – the working class, Mexican-American urban female often associated with gangs.

The National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque opened the “Que Chola Exhibition” with pieces by artists from New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas and Colorado.

The displays feature the evolution of the “chola” from her early days as a “pachuca” from the World War II-era zoot suit period to the contemporary figure trying to survive in poor neighborhoods.

“Cholas,” or homegirls, often refers to a particular Latina subculture in the U.S. characterized by a tough demeanor and distinctive style.

Curator Jadira Gurule said the “chola” represents strength and perseverance for many Latinas.

The exhibit runs until Aug. 4.

Self-driving test vehicle added to auto museum

DEARBORN, Mich.

One of General Motors’ first self-driving test vehicles is going on display at an automotive history museum in suburban Detroit.

The Henry Ford history attraction announced recently that it has acquired a modified pre-production Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle.

The GM-donated vehicle originally made its debut testing on the streets of San Francisco in 2016. Now it will be displayed at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn.

The camera- and sensor-equipped vehicle is the first autonomous car to be added to The Henry Ford collection. It’ll be next to a 1959 Cadillac El Dorado at the “Driving America” exhibit, which chronicles the history of the automobile.

Associated Press